DBS is one of the top international schools in Qatar, with a reputation of academic excellence since 1997. DBS offers world class education to boys and girls aged 3 – 18 for Preschool, Primary, Secondary, & Sixth Form and it is also an IB World School.
In the latest inspection report of the British Schools Overseas (BSO), DBS received excellent and outstanding findings.
DBS is proud to announce the results from its recent BSO inspection in November 2021. After a rigorous inspection by Penta International, results highlighted that DBS offers outstanding teaching and learning especially in the areas of English, Mathematics, Geography, and Languages. “The spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of pupils at DBS is outstanding,” BSO Inspection 2021 “A culture of reading is evident in all areas of the school and as a result, standards in reading and the communication skills of pupils are excellent throughout the school." The report also highlighted the exceptional curriculum at DBS and that standards are in line and sometimes above UK standards. "All DBS schools set high expectations and aspirations for all of its students. This recent achievement from the BSO inspection reflects the reputation that DBS schools have in the local educational market in providing outstanding education for our local communities,” Mr Sherlock, Executive Principal, Doha British Schools. BSO Result 2021
Amid the challenging academic year disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Doha British School (DBS) students recorded the school’s best International Baccalaureate (IB) examination results. This year’s average score for DBS is 35.7 points with a 100% pass rate - significantly higher and beating the global average score of 33 points and global pass rate of 88.9%. A total of 17.6% from the DBS IB cohort scored 40 and above - placing the school in the top 9% of all the 170,660 students who sat the IB exams worldwide. One (1) student also achieved a bilingual diploma, a prestigious achievement requiring literature qualifications in multiple languages. Among the DBS top performers this year are Aaryaman Sharma with 44 points; Lina Ammar, Maria Maxene Gerella & Lucia O'Connor Ramiro with 42 points; and Nagham Ali & Kenz Nadhim Ibrahim with 41 points. “I am very pleased with this year’s results and demonstrates how resilient our students have been through these challenging times. I am sure that the learning habits and qualities they have developed at DBS will enable them to flourish across a wide range of programmes at University. I wish them all the best of luck for the future”, Nick Taylor, Head of IB at Doha British School. “I am extremely proud of our student's achievements which have continued to improve year on year. The results are clear testimony as to how our students benefit from the world-class learning Doha British School offers”, Paul Sherlock, Executive Principal of Doha British Schools.
Next Academic Year View the DBS School Calendar - Academic Year 2022-2023
As per the directive of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Thursday May 6th is the last day of online learning before the EID Al Fitr holidays. Online learning for students will resume on Wednesday May 19th.
Scroll down to the very bottom to see the Virtual Art Exhibit ~ Doha British School (DBS) recently inaugurated the much anticipated IB Art Exhibit, an annual event curated by IB Visual Art students from the school’s Sixth Form Centre. The exhibit highlights a wide selection of original fine art, photography, graphic arts, fashion & textile design, and 3d movie animation. The art exhibit showcases the students’ learnt techniques and skills and how they are able to translate these into wonderful pieces using varied media such as oil paint, fabric, clay or digital platform. “All the students have an individual theme for their work, something that they decided themselvesand are passionate about. This exhibit is an integral part of our two-year IB Visual Arts course and isworth 50% of the student’s final grade,” Mrs Katie Dearden, Subject Leader of Art. “The students have really tried to communicate their ideas through their artwork and create aninsightful experience for the viewer. The standard of work improves every year and we are reallyproud of what our students have achieved,” added Mrs Dearden. Themes close to the heart When asked about her piece, Haanin Shafeegue, a Year 13 student said “My exhibition presents ajourney through human emotion. I strongly believe mental health is a topic that has to be talkedabout especially in these current times. Due to the pandemic, many people are at their breakingpoints. The journey that I am portraying finishes with a happy ending to show people that there isalways hope and love that can guide you outside of your negative space.” Also joining this year’s exhibit are Year 11 GCSE Fine Art & Textile Design students, some Year 12students, and DBS’ representatives to various art competitions in the country. “For my work, I combined the job that doctors and nurses do and the fact that superheroes savelives. I love how it turned out as it looked action packed and had a good meaning behind it: doctorsand nurses are out there saving lives during the time we are stuck inside,” Garv Kalera, a Year 8student who participated in the BSME Art competition. Without COVID19 and all the restrictions, the annual IB Art Exhibit must have been celebrated with much fanfare, food, and gathering. Needless to say, this year has been exceptionally challenging and yet, the works presented in the exhibit were nothing short of outstanding. “I am extremely proud of the work of our students. These pieces that we see here are not only areflection of how excellent our students are but a testament of their character and resilience duringthese trying times. At DBS, we set high expectations and standards for our students. These pieces ofwork are a result of hard work and commitment both from the wonderful teaching staff at DBS andour dedicated students. We can see how our students critically process ideas and how these ideasare then translated practically into these amazing works of art,” said Mr Paul Sherlock, Principal atDoha British School – Ain Khaled campus. Sixth Form Centre in Qatar Doha British School’s Sixth Form Centre offers one of the most diverse learning pathways available inany school in Qatar – IB Diploma, BTEC, and AS/A Level. “Through the IB art course, I personally liked following a set-out theme in making my artworks as itgave me a sense of direction throughout the journey. Although meeting deadlines was tough everyso often, it helped me manage my time when it came to submitting my artwork. Even with a highworkload, I managed to complete it all because of this rigorous course,” Dina Fraihat, Year 13student, commenting on how her course has contributed positively on her art journey.
Coming back to school after months of strict restrictions can be daunting to some of our students. While some find the opening of classes exciting, others find it hard and challenging. Read along and find some tips on how we can all assist and help our students as they transition back to blended and eventually, physical learning. Coronavirus, coping with anxiety It’s been a really uncertain time for everybody, both children and adults. It is difficult to tolerate uncertainty but that’s what we have to do right now. By doing so, it can help us manage anxiety in the long term. Lots of people are experiencing anxiety and that’s okay. Some people find it harder than others to manage. It is hard to gauge the full impact that the situation is having on children’s mental health and wellbeing. Furthermore, it’s important to acknowledge that we are not all in the same situation. For a lot of children, it will be exciting to return to school and they will adapt quickly and smoothly to their new routine. However, for others coming back to school, it will be a challenge and we need to remember the children’s experiences of the lockdown period will have been varied. It is going to be important to talk to your children about how they are feeling in a calm way. Many adults are anxious right now but it is important for adults to try to model calmness. Listen and validate their feelings Listen and validate, don’t assume that you know how they feel, we don’t know, and they might be feeling lots of things. Validate their feelings rather than coming up with answers, for example “it sounds like you are really worried right now and that’s understandable”. We don’t have all the answers. It’s possible we will go to school then VLE increases again, then back to school, you don’t have to pretend to know. Limit news and misinformation If children have particular concerns, it may be helpful to address some of the facts together in a simple and clear way. For example, if your child is worried about going back to school and getting unwell or passing it on to someone else, you could watch the news and check out the infection rate together. If there is any misinformation they have repeated, try and address this in a simple and clear way. At the same time, you don’t want children to watch too much news as this could make any anxiety worse, so limit it but actually addressing misinformation can be helpful. Limit reassurance This is really hard to do but we know that giving too much reassurance actually keeps the anxiety going. It’s very tempting, as giving reassurance can help anxiety in the short term but in the long term it doesn’t. Instead, encourage your child to ask questions. You can give some reassurance but don’t get into a repetitive cycle of giving lots of it. Focus on possible strategies Ask them “how did you manage to adapt in Lockdown?”, “How can you use those strategies to adapt now to go back to school?”. Help them answer their own questions. Help them to solve problems, coming up with lots of solutions and thinking what would be the best way to solve this problem. If it’s a particular problem like “my friend won’t want to speak to me, I’ve not spoken to them for a while”, maybe they could call a friend or Zoom before seeing them again. There are other strategies that can help, for example, help your child to think what they normally do when they’re feeling worried, what strategies help? Some children find taking long deep breaths helpful, breathing in for 7 seconds and out for 11 seconds, helping them slow their breathing down and help regulate them. Try to defer their worries Some children still have lots of worries so deferring worries could be really helpful where any worries that come up in the day, either in their mind or when they have written them down and they come back to them. For example, at 4:00 pm, I am going to have a half an hour worry time. What we know is that when they come back to them, the worries don’t seem as bad or they forget to have that worry time. Regaining a good routine Help children get back into a routine, helping them get up early again by going to bed at a reasonable time. Try doing the school run, try putting on their school uniform, reconnecting with friends again. Preparing them for what’s about to happen. Prepare children for changes in the school (as planned by DBS), for example smaller classes, working in school some of the time and online some of the time. Also break times won’t happen in the same way as they did before and washing of hands will be more frequent etc. Rewards for children who have been anxious but have managed to go to school is another helpful idea. Self-care and kindness support good health. Finally, it is really important that children are reminded to look after their own mental health. Eating healthily, exercising, connecting with friends, doing things they enjoy. These are really important during this time of huge transition, and also please encourage children to be kind to each other, to look after each other. This is a difficult time, just go easy on yourself as parents. It’s not going to feel okay overnight. It’s going to take time, it’s going to be a transition and that’s okay.
Last day of the academic year 2021-2022
DBS Class of 2022 Graduation Rites at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Doha
Doha British Schools will be closed for students from Sunday 1st May to Monday 9th May for the Mid-Term break and Eid Al-Fitr holidays. Learning will resume on Tuesday, 10th May at 7:00 am.